What it revealed was a ring-ditch, a type of monument typically formed by a circular or penannular ditch dug around a burial or ceremonial deposit, often all that survives of a once-prominent mound that has long since been ploughed or eroded flat. The feature here measures 7 metres in diameter and carries a pit-type feature roughly 1.5 metres across at its centre, suggesting something deliberate was once placed or interred there.

The survey, carried out by Dr. Roseanne Schot, also recorded faint traces of a second possible ring-ditch of similar dimensions just over 2 metres to the south-east, hinting that this may have been a small funerary cluster rather than an isolated monument. Around 65 metres further to the south-east lies a possible ring-barrow, a low earthen mound encircled by a ditch and bank, adding further weight to the idea that this gentle slope held some significance in the landscape over a long period. The ring-ditch itself sits approximately 100 metres south-south-east of a conjoined ringfort and around 50 metres east of an ancient roadway, placing it within a broader complex of monuments that, taken together, suggest the area around Rathnew was a focus of activity across several periods of prehistory and early medieval life.